


Bring Your Kid/Grandkid(s) to Work Day

by ChocolateKat (northkat)



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Childhood Trauma, Crack Treated Seriously, Developing Friendships, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Marines, Minor Violence, Self-Esteem Issues, What-If
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2019-09-30 09:52:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17221706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/northkat/pseuds/ChocolateKat
Summary: Look I know the timeline doesn’t match but imagine:Sengoku brings Rosinante (he finally started smiling again) because it’s high time to introduce this kid to how marines work and maybe he can even try socializing with the other kids. (Sengoku worries EVERY day about Rosi’s nonexistent social skills that’s been stunted by childhood trauma)Meanwhile Garp brings Ace, because Ace WILL be a marine when he’s older so why not see how it works early on!? Earlier the better to meet his future comrades!! (Garp has an unhealthy amount of denial and ace goes with it because it’s gonna be a blast robbing these suckers BLIND)Rosinante and Ace meets, and everyone is surprised with an unlikely friendship.





	1. going to marine camp

**Author's Note:**

> I've been lurking on all the fandom fanfics/theories and whatnot and it's high time I dip into writing for our residential angels Cora-san and Ace. 
> 
> Lemme tell you, when I read the theory of Sengoku as a grieving father (plus the whole absolute vs moral justice) my heart br0ke. Literally out of all the marines, you know who would get Ace the most? Who understands that the sins of the parent doesn't apply to the kid? ROSINANTE THAT'S WHO. But he was dead by the time of Marineford and in addition to being dead there was also a very angsty buddha out for pirate blood. :))
> 
> So here's my tooth-rottingly fluffy fic that messes up the timeline bc I have a mighty need for Rosi and Ace to meet and be friends. Cheers to emotional support and solidarity!!!

What is advertised as a Bring Your Kid/Grandkid(s) to Work Day involves less of kids following around their family members and more of tours/group activities to "experience" a typical marine's day. That's what it says on paper at least. In reality, it's more of a gathering of the upper echelon's brats and showing them the tamer ~exciting~ life of marines. 

Sengoku knows it's all propaganda and that's exactly why he brings Rosinante (who finally started smiling again). It’s high time to introduce this kid to how marines work in a SAFE environment and maybe he can even try socializing with the other kids. (Sengoku worries EVERYDAY about Rosi’s nonexistent social skills that’s been stunted by childhood trauma)

Coincidentally this was also the year that Garp brings Ace, because Ace WILL be a marine when he’s older so why not see how it works early on!? Earlier the better to meet his future comrades!! (Garp has an unhealthy amount of denial and Ace goes with it because it’s gonna be a blast robbing these suckers BLIND)

Rosinante and Ace meets, and everyone is surprised with an unlikely friendship.

\-------------------------

Rosi has never seen someone as jaded as Doffy before, but Ace sure fits the bill and with the violence to match. 

However, even though Rosi is scared of Doffy, it’s not the same with Ace. Where Doffy wanted to be treated like a king, Ace just wants to be left alone, and that makes a world of difference in Rosi’s books. He’s hesitant to approach because he knows how violent, angry-at-the-world children can be—still has the scars to prove it–but somehow, he manages to get a few words out of Ace. 

After some initial odd questions about the pirate king (Rosi only knows the bare minimum about who this Roger is and even those bare bones of information he got from badly mutilated newspapers left in Sengoku’s office) Ace was visibly much more relaxed and comfortable speaking with him. 

He wasn’t sure if Ace was trying to lead him to a specific answer, but going from Ace’s relaxed slouch and a new topic about the type of tigers he liked to hunt (and what is up with THAT sort of dangerous hobby???) Rosi gave himself a mental pat on the back for answering, “he seems scary but I respect how he kept his family safe”.

 

Ace is violent, vindictive, and even murderous in his rampages. But never without reason. 

He’s stuck in this group of happy-go-lucky spoiled brats with no chips on their shoulders but just because his blood is dirty doesn’t mean he’ll be a mean lil’ shit without reason. 

He grins sardonically as a scrappy blond kid that looked like strong wind can blow him over approached him to make small talk.

Give him a reason, and he can pummel someone as well as the next gangster. 

From drunk bastards in caverns to travelers who didn’t know the devil of the trash-heap, the resounding answers were all some variation of him being a demon, unwanted, or a bastard that should’ve died at birth. Ace is really curious to hear what he would say. 

\-------------------------

Ace was surprised when the skinny little thing was Makino-level polite and made decent conversation in that tiny tiiiiiny voice of his without ever once making eye contact. He’s really hung up about this because of how loud and overbearing Gramps was and he just assumed everyone in and planning to join the marines would have the volume of screaming as their indoor voice. 

Apparently, you can have the voice of a person with the worst cold in the world or be the son of the pirate king and still be accepted into the Marines. 

Good to know they have such low standards. 

The real shock came when this beansprout said that he RESPECTED Roger. 

When further asked how he feels about Rogers child, if he had any, the shy kid who _still_ wasn’t making eye contact said that he’s probably really sad his father died??? 

Flabbergasted (and slightly panicking because _this has never happened before_ ), Ace thought hard if he should continue this line of questioning. 

On one hand, this kid in front of him threw such curveball answers that Ace felt the need to sit and properly mentally prepare himself for what he is hearing. On the other hand, he’s pretty darn curious what the kid’s deal is in thinking such an eccentric thing. 

For a marine’s kid, he– _oh shit he still doesn’t even know his name because he zoned out during introductions_ –is really weird.

\-------------------------

Ace has moved on to rambling about an “old hag Dadan” that he lives with. 

Between wondering why Ace was so fascinated with Roger and where he learned the usage of foul words and some more, Rosinante was fast moving from confused to compliance. Stunned as he was to hear phrases coming out of Ace suited better for a uncouth hoodlum, Ace was speaking so fast and blatantly ignoring the look of dawning horror on Rosinante face that there was nothing Rosi could really do except swallow his reprimand and listen on. 

The more Rosi mutely listens the more he thinks maybe by old hag Ace meant a witch? Doffy always used this synonym, even if mother–and that was still a painful _painful_ word that he quickly tried to not think of–didn’t approve. Something about respecting ladies and…agendas? 

Rosinante couldn’t remember but how Ace describes this “Dadan” certainly matched the description of the witches he’s seen in stories. So far, Ace lived with Dadan in the forest (all witches lived in the forest or somewhere really secluded), she has several “minions” and they all live in the compound together (Rosi nods; it’s normal for witches to have familiars and slaves ~~like on Mariejois~~ ), she “steals the shit out of dumbasses” (Rosi nods again: it’s hard to tell why witches are so nice to some people but really mean to others, maybe this witch got…cat-called? That’s something his mo— _stop stop stop_ — said never to do because it’s rude and it’ll offend people), and apparently Dadan really hates kids (makes Rosi wonder why Ace would be LIVING with her but then Ace describes his detailed plans to build his own house and it clicks).

 

Ace knew he was rambling, but the occasional nod he got from the marine kid made it seem as if he was listening so he continued. As he was about to move onto talking about the garbage mountains, the Marine kid finally spoke up:

“Is it a curse!?”

Ace gagged, nearly chocking on his own spit. This kid must be some sort of super-genius if he’s made the connection between him and Roger somehow from all the miscellaneous info Ace gave to him about _Dadan of all things_. His mind raced to figure out how he can bullshit the curse of having Roger as a father into something like a curse of never being full or some shit like that. 

_Goddamn me and my big mouth…gotta make sure he doesn’t rat me out now._

“Look,” He started, mind settling on the curse of a big appetite and trying to look unwavering in his convictions, “it’s not what you thi—”

“It’s alright!”

“—think…wait what?”

“Witches curse people all the time! Is she forcing you to live with her as a sla-servant?”

“W-wai—”

“Or did your parents promise the witch their first-born-son in exchange for a favor?”

“That actually sounds possible—hey wait a second, that’s not wh-“

“I KNEW IT!”

\-------------------------

 

Ace spends the next 2 hours trying to explain that no, he is not cursed and that no, _Dadan is NOT a witch._

By the time dinner time rolls around, Ace is utterly exhausted and left with despair as he watches Rosinante mutter under his breath about breaking curses and holy lightning.

Today has been a constant back-and-forth of arguing over the still-unresolved misunderstanding and preventing Rosinante from falling overboard or cracking his head on the floor. 

His original plan of swiping all the valuables of the marines onboard or instilling a fear of god onto the other marine’s kids all but forgotten.

His only solace is the fact that he finally knows the name of the little annoyance that’s been plaguing him.

Ace sighs heavily in defeat and drags Rosinante—who nearly trips for the _fifth_ time if not for Ace grabbing the back of his collar—towards the cafeteria because being tired makes him hungry and it’s instinct to follow the scent of roast meat.


	2. Drinks, Dinner and Tables

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Sengoku drinks his problems away (not that he ever gets to black-out drunk thanks to his devil fruit power) but Garp isn’t that lucky.  
> Ace and Rosi gets dinner and meets Sengoku and Garp respectively. Rosi is sure he never wants to touch alcohol. Ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy (early) b-day to the cute lil fire-starter <3

Sengoku worries more about how Rosi is doing. Is he talking to kids his age? Is he being bullied?

He walks circles into his office carpet, thoughts gathering like a dark thundercloud over his head and each scenario he thinks up worse than the last. With observation Haki, he can only see Rosinante’s aura flaring oddly. While that wouldn’t worry a normal parent because flares like that could mean anything from being over-worked to excited, Sengoku has _plenty_ to worry about with a backstory and medical history like Rosinante’s. 

The idea of visiting the kid comes up but he shakes his head. With his position of an Admiral, he is supposed to formally meet the group after dinner anyways. It wouldn’t do to be too overbearing. 

Almost like he was being summoned, his old friend Monkey D. Garp barges into the room with a “BANG” and knocks down half the wall in the process. Garp completely ignores the destruction he caused in favor of flopping onto the office sofa and somehow swiping the rice crackers off Sengoku’s desk in the same movement. In his excited rambles about how cute his little freckled grandson was, he failed to see a dark aura rising from Sengoku. 

Sengoku turns to his uninvited office guest with a demonic smile on his face: “I hope you know the consequences.” 

Garp looks in bewilderment and tries to argue his way out of trouble: “H-hey Sengoku, no need to be so stingy about that delicate little wall of yours…”

“Indeed the wall doesn’t really matter. But you’re just in time to join me in a few round of drinks.” 

Garp scrambled out of the sofa and shouted that he had papers to sign as soon as “drinks” came out of Sengoku’s mouth but his ear was caught by a still smiling Sengoku and despite his loud protests and equally loud yelling, Garp still got dragged all the way to the alcohol cellar as a drinking companion. Sengoku made sure to remind him why no one bothers him in his office without invitation, especially when he’s stressed about his adopted son. If he had to force a few bottles of aged whiskey down Garp’s throat to make a point then so be it. 

The marines who originally heard the commotion made sure to spread word to not approach the alcohol cellars for the rest of the day. Sengoku’s spontaneous binge-drinking were legendary. While he seemingly is still sober by the end, the same can’t be said for whoever drinks with him. Seeing that it’s a Vice-Admiral, Garp the Fist this time…there might be collateral damage. 

 

\-------------------------

 

Dinner time affair was a mess and Rosi felt sick just looking at Ace eat. And it wasn’t just Rosi. All the kids were situated at the same table in the marine’s canteen and for the past five minutes everyone looked at Ace in varying levels of distain, disgust, or disbelief. 

Ace looked like a madman who haven’t eaten properly in ages and acted like a savage in his method of devouring food. The whole table’s combined noise of clinking tableware and excited conversations was overwhelmed by the sound of slurping, chewing, and loud gulps emitted from Ace’s area. And it had to be called an _area_ because plates were piling up beside him hazardously and sauce splatters dripping onto the table with every addition to the pile. He’s forwent the forks and knives in favor of his bare hands; with good reason too, because with that speed of eating he’d most likely stab himself by accident. 

_The witch probably doesn’t feed him enough…_

The thought brought a halt to Rosi’s half-hearted dissection of the sandwich on his plate. Internally he shivers as he thinks back on how deep-sated hunger felt. Years of dinning etiquette had been forgotten in favor of cramming half-rotten food down his mouth. Now that he’s been with Sengoku, food scarcity was a waning nightmare of the past, but he never forgot the gnawing hunger and the desperation to eat just a _little bit more because there was no telling when’s the next time the bakery will throw out bread, no telling when’s the next time they’re going to find half-rotten fruit instead of ones crawling with maggots._

Rosi was so busy observing Ace and reflecting on the past that he barely manages to touch his own plate. Not that he was going to eat much anyways; just looking at the bread of the sandwich was already making him feel nauseous. 

Conversation coming from his right forces him into action though. The others were talking about meeting an Admiral after dinner and Rosi belatedly thought how disappointed Sengoku would be if he were to waste food. Thank god Sengoku didn’t insist on Rosi eating bread ~~maybe thanks to the previous incident where Rosi managed to throw it all up and was sick for 5 days~~ but he would urge Rosi to finish whatever he could. 

_Still malnourished_ , he had heard the doctor whisper, and he doesn’t need to know fancy words to understand that he was too skinny for his age and too weak to be healthy. Malnourished probably doesn’t mean dying, _but on some days he wonders if maybe he should’ve died all those years ago. With his mom. So she didn’t have to be alone and he didn’t have to witness Doffy killing fa— ~~Stopstopstop~~ _. 

He is immediately snapped out of his depressive spiral and regrets feeling sorry for Ace when he looks down at what’s left on his own plate only to see a blur of tan skin and his food disappearing down Ace’s throat. 

 

Ace doesn’t enjoy it here. He _doesn’t_. But it’s good food. And he didn’t have to hunt it. Or coerce the stupid hag and her minions to cook it with the threat of burning their hair or setting fire to their laundry. _Plus_ he gets to revel in the attention given to him by the rest of the shitty little snots. He makes sure to slurp the soup extra loud and purposefully spills sauce onto the one sitting next to him who keeps on making little huffy noises while glaring at him. 

Internally Ace laments at the fact that Sabo couldn’t come. Sabo provided amble reasoning, such as the fact that he and Garp never got introduced to each other and that he didn’t want to get hit with a fist of love. 

Ace snorts at what Sabo had said: "My head isn't hard enough to handle a fist of anything from that crazy grampa of yours". That was reasonable, but Ace was certain that Sabo just didn’t want to meet other rich snobby kids who might recognize him. 

Since Ace was on the same boat of not wanting the past to haunt his present, he let Sabo off the hook for this time. 

Doesn’t mean he won’t brag about the amount of belli he managed to snag off of these suckers though. Whenever he gets around to do some stealing. 

 

\-------------------------

 

The clean-up of his sudden drinking binge was left to Garp who was still drunkenly bragging about how his grand kid was "going to be the BEST marine EVER" to an empty wine barrel. 

Sengoku had better things to do: like getting ready the closing speech for the kids. Tiredly rubbing his eyes, he could feel the beginning tinges of pain in his head which indicated he drunk enough that his fruit powers weren't invalidating the alcohol's effect. Nonetheless he shrugs on his full uniform. Better to have a pounding headache than panicking every minute about something he can do nothing about. 

 

Sengoku peers around the curtains, looking for blond hair among the scattered clumps of children talking timidly. He couldn’t help wondering again if Rosinante was able to make some friends given how withdrawn he was. When he finally spots his kid-- _he will argue with all his might that the only reason why he had a dumb smile on his face like that old coot Garp was because of the residual alcohol in his system_ \--sitting next to another child with black hair and freckles his heart nearly stopped. 

_Wait. Wasn't Garp JUST talking about his grandson who had freckles?_ Sengoku furiously prayed to whatever higher power that Rosinante was NOT sitting next to another Monkey. His kid did not need to be harassed in an event where he was meant to socialize. The maybe-monkey certainly ACTED like one, with how fast he seemed to be speaking to a completely unresponsive Rosinante. 

Sengoku frowned. He wished Rosinante would just cut those bangs of his because not only was it blocking his own vision, OTHER people can't see his eyes either. Sengoku knows that Rosinante is shy and just because he's not talking back doesn't mean he's not interested. Raising a child is difficult, and Rosinante wasn’t making it any easier with how hard it is to gauge his emotional state with those bangs of his blocking his face... 

His sigh turns into a frown when he considers the idea that Rosinante might’ve been BULLIED by the maybe-monkey. The kid was fast to cry from nightmares but Sengoku had absolutely no idea how he reacts to real life bullying. 

His frown intensifies with his lack of ability to check up on Rosinante; he's stuck behind the stage and it’s protocol for him to stay there. He impatiently taps the floor, wanting to get out there and finish his speech to sooner speak with his kid. 

Lower ranked marines passing by and stagehands lowered their heads and walked faster. Their thoughts went out to whoever got Admiral Sengoku in such a foul mood and they prayed that the kids won't cry at the expression he currently has on his face. 

\------------------------- 

_The presentation has been so bone-numbingly boooooring!!_ Ace thinks as he leans back and picks at his nose some more. It elicits a disapproving glare from the marine in a dumb cape that shows “JUSTICE” who was speaking to them on a makeshift stage in the now-empty canteen. Ace sneers right back and huffs at how annoying their stupid speeches about justice are. Sabo would've described it as prop-property? Propcandy? Propganda? Wait no, it definitely started with a p...and it was _definitely_ prop-something! Ugh Ace never remembered all those fancy words but he's sure he heard Sabo use it before. Most of the presentation passed like that; with Ace zoning out more often than not and wondering what word to describe this boring speech that started with p-r-o-p. 

Ace sighs and hopes he’ll have a narcoleptic fit soon because his brain hurts from listening to all the justice bullshit and trying to remember a word he doesn’t remember. 

But let it be said that there were at least some interesting things that happened in the long presentation. For one, Ace finally managed to snag some cool stuff (off the brats sitting in front of him). He grins, both proud of his pick-pocketing skills and looking forward to how they’ll react when they discover their pockets so much lighter. He doesn’t think Rosinante—who sat beside him— even noticed: it was a little disturbing how engrossed he was in the speakers and hanging on to their every word. 

When the old clown admiral (just look at that _hair_ ) came out things finally got interesting. That's what Ace is calling him because nobody in their right of mind loves circles that much outside of actual clowns and Ace mentally snickers at the image of a stereotypical clown working with the marines. 

Ace doesn't hold his laugh back when some brat sitting near the front starts bawling because of the scary scowl on the clown admiral’s face. 

Ace wasn't surprised by how wimpy the other kids were, but he _was_ surprised by how _unwimpy_ Rosinante was. Ace was glared at a lot by the old clown because he laughed in the beginning and it's not like Ace gives a damn, but the clown kept on glancing over at Rosinante. Not only does Rosinante not shake in fear or cry he actually...smiled back at the old geezer?? Ace rubbed his eyes, making sure that he wasn't hallucinating. Not bad for a marine wimp. 

Ace learns very soon that Rosinante is still very much a wimp when the kid stutters like a broken den-den mushi and nearly bites his tongue off during the Q&A session they hold at the end of the presentation. The only reason Rosinante wasn’t peeing his pants with the clown admiral staring was because they were family. Ace pushes down the bitterness associated with _he’s his **father**_ deep down into the recesses of his mind. 

\------------------------- 

"So...who's this, Rosinante?" 

"A-Ace! Ace, meet my fa-a-guardian. This is Sengoku!" 

Ace stared disinterestedly with a "Hm" and Rosi started to internally sweat. Sengoku was very strict on manners, and with how Ace is picking at his nose again and even sticking that hand out for a handshake... Rosi wanted to get as far away from the fallout as possible. Knowing Ace for the few short hours gave him a good idea that he was the sort to shout back at authority _~~just like Doffy~~_. Shouting back at authority--especially to Sengoku whose eyebrow is clearly twitching--is never a good idea. Not that he's ever seen Sengoku angry. No, Sengoku was all rational reasoning and caring with Rosinante and Rosi would APPRECIATE to not see his guardian get mad for real at this maybe-friend-he-just-made-4-hours-ago. 

Ace didn't know what's the deal with the clown geezer but he HATED being stared down like he's some roadside scum not worth anyone's time. Just as he was about to rudely ask the geezer if his eyes are still working because _HELLO I'M OFFERING TO SHAKE HANDS HERE_ , a loud shout had him jumping up in reflex. 

"ACEEEEE!!!!" Came a holler from the distance but the sound was approaching pretty fast. 

"SHIT. ROSINANTE HIDE ME!" Ace yelped as he tried to scurry behind Rosinante in hopes of using him as a human meatshield. Gramps wouldn't be dumb enough to hurt the Admirals kid. 

"BWAHAHAHA WHAT WAS THAT YA LITTLE BRAT? TAKE THIS; FIST OF LOVE!!" A blurry figure jumped out behind the clown geezer and Ace tried to dodge the descending fist of pain. Like all his previous attempts to dodge, his gramps was way too fast for an old man his age and Ace felt his skull ringing and the bump rising as gramps' stupid fist landed on his head. 

"OUUUCH--STUPID GRAMPS, WHAT WAS THAT FOR!??" He shouted as he backed away, trying to move outside of gramp's range so he can't hit him again. 

"YOU'VE GOT NO RESPECT FOR YOU GRANDPA, LIL' ACE! LOOK HOW CUTE ROSI IS!! YOU GOTTA BEAT HIM SO SENGOKU CAN SHUT HIS TRAP REAL GOOD!!" 

"THEN QUIT PUNCHING ME, YOU OLD GEEZER!!!" 

"HEY! DON'T BRING ROSINANTE INTO THIS," yelled an irritated Sengoku. 

"BWAHAHAHA WHAT WAS THAT ACE? YOU WANTED ANOTHER FIST OF LOVE? YOU'LL HAVE TO SPEAK UP, YOUR POOR OLD GRANDPA IS HARD OF HEARING!" 

With a vicious growl the younger monkey tried to bite the hand aiming to pinch his cheek and the vice-admiral returned the act with a fist to his wayward grandson's head. Then the fight turned into a straight up free-for-all brawl when Ace started using kicks. 

Ace thought it was a good idea to use forgotten plates as projectiles to distract Garp and immediately regretted it when Garp shouted about how marines had to adapt to their environment and with a, "Grandpa is so happy you're already learning how to be a good marine!!" he hefted one of the canteen tables which had been **bolted to the floor.**

"GODDAMNIT GARP, THE DAMAGE EXPENSES!!!" The clown admiral looked furious as he took Rosinante by the arm and dragged him out of the fighting zone. Ace was distracted by that sudden outburst and nearly missed Garp throwing another table right at him. 

Other people around them were yelling and scattering into the hallways, not wanting to be caught into the messy brawl. Only Sengoku was left with a shaking Rosinante at his side. Sengoku could only pat the poor boy's head in reassurance, only for them both to flinch when Garp lifted and threw ANOTHER table at an Ace who was scrambling out of the way while screaming bloody murder. 

~~~~

~~~~

Sengoku looks at the monkey circus with eyes full of pain. Of all the kids, why the hell did Rosinante have to choose THIS one to befriend??? But then he sees the grim look on Rosinanate's face and thinks back on how he became friends with Garp. _...He probably didn't sign up for this after all._

Rosinante looks at all the chaos and screaming caused by only two people--who were still going at it in the middle of the canteen--in silent awe and fear. He was so glad he's already met Garp before because if this was his first time meeting him then he would've fainted a long time ago. 

Garp was lifting canteen tables that sprung free from the floor it was nailed to with a metallic screech and throwing it (like that one time he threw a cannonball) at Ace and also managed to laugh joyously and praise Ace whenever he counterattacked. While doing all that, he was still bragging to Sengoku about what an addition to the marines Ace would be. It seemed to make Ace even more angry judging from the snarl of outrage when Garp yells, "He did a good job on that dodge! You see that Sengoku? PERFECT marine material!" 

"Rosinante," he jolts to attention upon hearing his name and looks at Sengoku who tiredly gestures to Garp nearly getting kneed in the groin by a furious Ace, "this is why you should never drink." 

Rosinante clings onto Sengoku's pant leg and nods as hard as he can to show that he understood. 

Three things were learned that day for Rosi: 

1\. eating with Ace was like fighting a one-sided war (that he won't be ever winning) 

2\. alcohol is scary and he's not going to drink it EVER and 

3\. he was tremendously glad that Garp wasn't the one who adopted him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to reason that Rosinante's drinking-when-stressed habit comes from _somewhere_ xD  
> Also a half-drunk Garp is great reasoning for causing destruction (but lets be real, even if he wasn't drunk my money is still on him "testing" Ace's abilities to dodge objects that aren't meant to be thrown). 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed and hmu if you see any mistakes! I've got no beta and I've been typing away at my phone for most of this ^^"""


	3. Hide and Seek

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rosinante is never letting Ace decide hiding spots ever again.

Once the dinner was cleaned up and done with (or more like when Garp stopped throwing tables) Sengoku lead the gathered children, now visibly more skittish, to their rooms for the night. 

 

“Alright kids, four to a room.” Sengoku gestures to the open doors on both sides of the hallway.

 

Each room was fitted with two bunk beds and trunks with locks. There was also tables and chairs in each room, though some had pens and paper on its surface. Overall very minimal and lacking any touch of personality.

 

“Be careful not to mess up the rooms; these were graciously lent to you by marines currently on duty elsewhere.” A random Vice-Admiral reminded the kids as he brought up the rear and shooed the remaining children into the hallway. Everyone nodded at that, but out of the corner of Rosinante’s eye, he saw a feral grin on Ace’s face. 

 

Not good. 

 

“Don’t do anything rash, Ace!” Rosinante whispers, already predicting that whatever trouble Ace is planning, he’ll probably get dragged in too.

 

“Don’t worry.” Ace replies with a smile full of teeth, and somehow Rosinante already believes him as much as he believes in the sea being purple. 

\-------------------

 

“Sooo….” Ace drawls as he flicks a pen between his fingers, “lent to us, huh?”

 

Rosinante huffs from his spot on the bottom bunk. It hasn’t been even five minutes before everyone was split into the rooms and settled, and not three minutes before he finally opened the book he was REALLY looking forward to read. But honestly what did he expect? For Ace to sit quietly and play nice? Rosinante was a dreamer but he wasn’t dumb. There’s no way this night would be a peaceful one with Ace around. 

 

“You shouldn’t play with their pens Ace…”

 

“They’re not here to stop me,” he grins back.

 

“But still…”

 

“If they really didn’t want me going through their stuff, they shouldn’t leave it on the table,” Ace says with all the logical reasoning of a ten-year-old.

 

Rosinante gives up trying to argue with his friend who is clearly determined to have his way. Unfortunately, the other roommate wasn’t of the same mind as Rosinante. 

 

“Hey you!” 

 

Rosinante quickly turns to stare at the new speaker who had earlier introduced himself as Helmeppo. The blonde hair paired with an air of entitled petulance…it really remined him of Doffy. But weaker, so much weaker. The unbreakable will—the fire in his eyes--was not there. In that aspect, it was always Ace who had that look of scalding annoyance. But Ace never acted like Doffy. And even Helmeppo only acted like a washed-out, faded Doffy with none of the bite to the barking.  
Rosinante relaxed. Ace can handle him easy. 

 

Helmeppo was still taking to Ace, who at this point was all but ignoring him. The entire drawer from the table has been removed and set onto the floor, with Ace diligently combing through the contents. 

 

Face flushed bright red, Helmeppo went towards Ace and grabbed his shoulder, only for Ace’s hand to shoot out lightening fast around his wrist and faster than Rosinante could process, Ace hefted Helmeppo straight into the air and threw him over his shoulders. 

 

With a loud bang, Helmeppo was thrown against the chair with enough force to break it. 

 

There was a unified sharp gasp from everyone in the room: Rosi for being empathetic enough to feel pain on Helmeppo’s behalf, Ace because he just realized he’s going to be in so much trouble with his grandpa, and the remaining boy who was bunking with Helmeppo in horror, because immediately he also dashed out, presumably to alert the adults. 

 

“Ahh…” Ace scratched his head and looked at Rosinante nervously, “I say we ditch and get out of here?”

 

“If I run away with you, I’m going to be guilty by association.” Rosinante grumbles, but he closed his book and slipped it under his pillow.

 

Ace grins, “But you’re already guilty cuz you didn’t stop me from beating him up.”

 

Down on the floor with the splintered mess of a chair, Helmeppo moans in pain.

 

Rosinante weighs the pros and cons of telling Ace the physical and mental power needed (which he doesn’t have, in any capacity that mattered) of trying to stop him from anything, and concludes that it’s easier to just take everything as it comes. 

 

“…Just lead the way.” 

 

\-------------------

 

Unsurprisingly, they are found almost immediately. 

 

Rosinante is determined to not let Ace determine any hiding places ever again, effective immediately. 

 

His first greatest idea was to hide in the bathroom because it has locked doors (and we can crawl through the vents Rosi!) and Rosinante gave him at least 30 reasons why crawling through vents was a bad idea and also just because you can lock the door doesn’t mean people won’t kick it down? Garp’s ferocious figure appears in his mindscape and Rosinante wastes no time detaching Ace from the bathroom door handle. 

 

Ace’s next idea was to hide outside the window by the ledge. Rosi opens a nearby window and pokes his head out. The moon was half covered by clouds and while it wasn’t raining, visibility was poor and he wasn’t that good of a climber. Between falling five floors and a punch from Garp, he thinks he has better odds with the latter, because at least Sengoku can intervene before Ace’s grandpa gets too wild.

 

The idea that eventually gets them caught will forever make Rosinante want to smack his head onto the nearest pillar. Ace was wildly determined to hide there, though half the reason was probably because he was tempted by the smell.

 

Rosinante has seen Ace eat. He should not be the least surprised that Ace would want to hide in the kitchen.

 

“We can hide and eat at the same time! And no one would ever think about hiding in the kitchen!”

 

_Unless they are you…_

 

Rosinante sighs, but still jogs after Ace to keep up. 

 

\-------------------

 

In the end it was Sengoku who finds them crammed behind bags of flour: Ace gnawing on a stick of meat and Rosinante much more subdued—munching on leftover cookies from dinner. 

 

Both boys froze when their hide out was discovered and Rosinante flew into action; cramming the remaining cookies all into his mouth as if to hide the evidence. 

 

Ace took another bite of the meat as he maintained eye-contact with Sengoku.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A darker take on this chapter: Ace is better at camouflage and hiding in jungles/outdoor environments but Rosinante is 100% more versed in urban hiding tactics due to his childhood.
> 
> Also I keep having really great scene ideas but its??so??hard???to???fit them into this camp thing??? Anyways I appreciate you readers so much for leaving all these kudos here and thanks for being patient! ^^

**Author's Note:**

> Hi thanks for reading! I have no idea how I'm going to end this fic so stick around for more wholesome friendship and trauma unpackaging until further notice! 
> 
> Comments make me stronger :3 (and also puts a smile on my face and make me rant to my friends about why they should join this fandom lololol)


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